Gate-latch.



No. 727,738. PATENTED MAY12,1903. J. P. BITTLEH GATE LATCH.

APPLICATION IILED MAR. 9. 1903.

no MODEL.

amwwtm UNITE Patented May 12, 1903.

JAMES F. BITTLE, OF BRUNSWICK, MARYLAND.

' GATE-LATCH.

ISPEGlFIGATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 727,738, dated May 12, 1 903. Application filed March 9, 1903 SerialNo. 146,913. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMESFBITTLE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Brunswick, in the county of Frederick and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gate-Latches; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, ref erence being had to theannexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The present invention has for its object to provide a gate-latch that will possess strength and durability and will not easily become out of order and inoperative, the latch working in a perpendicular line, and consequently the frost in cold Weather does not affect its workings when raising the gate-post, which causes great annoyance and trouble when attempting to operate the gate with the ordinary form of latches heretofore in use. I

The invention consists in a gate-latch constructed substantially as shown in the drawings and hereinafter described and, claimed.

Figure 1 of the drawings is aside elevation of a portion of a gate and gate-post, showing my improved latch connecting therewith, theend of the gate and latch beingpartly in secsents a portion of the end rail of a gate, and B the horizontal rails thereof, and C a portion of the gate-post, a sufiicient only ofthef 'of the yoke F terminates in an upwardly-extending shoulder on, which shoulder forms a gate being shown to illustrate the application thereto of my invention, the latch comprising my invention being applicable to any gate of whatever form and construction.

The gate-post O has a keeper D of any desirable form and construction and connected thereto in the usual manner, and to the end rail A of the gate the casing E of the latch is connected by screws or other suitable fastenings a, entering perforations c in outwardlyextending plates 0, which bear against the.

front of the rail of the gate.

The casing E is mortised in the end rail of the gate, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and is preferably cast in a single piece of metal and securely held in the mortised opening by suitable fastenings hereinbefore described.

The casing E is cast with side walls (1 and end walls e, which latter form the top and bottom of the casing, said casing increasing in widthin a direction from its rear to its front end. by means of the extension-webs f, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, said webs joining a transverse brace g, extending across the front of the casing. v

The yoke E, which is the latch proper, is adapted to engage the keeper D on the gatepost to lock the gate closed or release it therefrom whenthe gate is tobe opened.

The yoke F has an upwardly-extending pivot-pin h to engage the slot '5 in the upper one of the end walls e of the casing,- whereby the yoke is pivotally connected thereto. The slot i is of keyhole shape to adapt the lockin g-lug j to engage therewith when the yoke F is being engaged with the casingE, and

after the yoke :is in. place the lug holds the ing pivotally connected to the yoke by means of-the pin Z, extending up from the yoke, with which the perforated end of the link engages. The free end or extremity of'thelower arm stop for the yoke to prevent it from turning clear around or limit its sidewise movement, thereby at all times keeping it in proper-position, the shoulder abutting against the side of the link G to limit the movement of the yoke.

As above described, one end of the link G is pivotally connected to the yoke F, while its opposite end pivotally connects with the lever H through the medium of the keyholeshaped slot 1' and the pin a and lug 0 upon the lower end of the depending arm 10, projectingfrom the leverH. The keyhole-formed slot 0 of the link G, together with the pin 12 and locking-lug 0 upon the end of the arm 19, not only enables the link and arm to be pivotally connected together, but after the link is once engaged with the arm the lug thereon, in connection with the form of slot, securely holds the arm and link together and enables them to be separated only when the lever is turned to bring the lug 0 on line with the straight portion of the slot 7'. That portion of the lever H where it joins the arm 19 has a perforation q to engage a fixed pivot-pin s, projecting from the casingE, by which means the lever is pivotally connected to the casin g. The lever H is provided with a suitable stop 6 to limit the downward movement of the lever by the stop coming against the upper one of the end walls a.

The yoke F can be adjusted to adapt the latch to a right or left hand gate by raising the end of the link G sufficiently to clear the shoulder m, so that the link will be on the opposite side of the shoulder to that shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, thereby changing the latch to adapt it to the gate to which it is connected.

The latch may be operated by any suitable levers or connection found best adapted to the purpose, such as a rod I and bell-crank hand-leverJ, said rod being suitably connected to the lever H and to the hand bell-crank lever J, which lever is pivotally connected to the gate in any preferred manner, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. I

The yoke F, as should be understood, is vertically pivoted to the casing E, so that it will swing perpendicularly on its pivotal connections in contradistinction to horizontally, which possesses material advantages over the ordinary form of latch, as in climates where the frost has a tendency to raise the posts the vertically-pivoted yoke will adjust itself to correspond with such variation in the position of the keeper D in either direction up or down or away from the gate.

The construction of the latch removes undue friction of its parts and provides a substantially antifriction-latch that is especially valuable in farm or other like gates, and there being no springs to break or be affected by the weather its strength and durability are materially enhanced, in addition to enabling the latch to be adjusted to adapt it to either a right or left hand gate without separating any of its parts.

Many changes or modifications may be made in the several details of construction without in any manner departing from the principle of my invention, such as would come within ordinary mechanical skill and judgment.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A gate-latch comprising a suitable casing, a yoke vertically pivoted thereto, an opcrating-lever pivotally connected to the easing, and a link pivotally connected to the yoke and lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A gate-latch comprising a suitable casing, a yoke pivotally and removably connected thereto, the lower arm of the yoke having an upwardly-extending shoulder, an operating-lever pivotally connected to the casing, and a link pivotally connected to the lever and to the lower arm of the yoke, a shoulder upon the yoke serving as a stop to limit the movement thereof, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. A gate-latch comprising a suitable casing having a keyhole-shaped slot at its upper end, a yoke having a pivot pin and lug upon its upper end to engage the slot and pivoted at its lower end to the casing, an operating-lever pivoted to the casing and having a stop at its upper end and a depending arm, and a link pivotally connected to the arm and to the yoke, substantially as and for the purpose described.

L. A gate-latch comprising a suitable casing having a keyhole-shaped slot at its upper end, a yoke having a pivot-pin and lug adapted to engage the slot and pivoted to the base of the casing and having a shoulder to act as a stop, an operating-lever pivoted to the casing and having a depending arm with pivotpin and lug, and a link pivotally connected to the yoke and having a keyhole-shaped slot with which the pin and lug on the arm of the lever engages, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES F. BITTLE.

Witnesses:

JEREMIAH P. KARN, EDWARD O. SHAFER. 

